Myles Garrett is “not open” to a contract extension with the Browns, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
Garrett’s trade request has been one of the biggest stories of the offseason. The Browns have insisted that they will not move Garrett and are reportedly willing to make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league to keep him in Cleveland. That contract could come in as high as $40MM per year, the highest APY of a non-quarterback in NFL history.
But this situation isn’t centered around money. Garrett knows he can get a top-of-the-market contract from most teams in the NFL, but he’s looking for something without a price tag: a Super Bowl. Based on his assessment of the Browns’ immediate future, they won’t be competing for a Lombardi trophy in the immediate future.
Garrett is entering his age-30 season but remains at the height of his powers, which is one of the motivations behind his trade request. He doesn’t want to chase a championship in the twilight of his career; he wants to lead a defense to the Super Bowl during his prime. Crucially, he doesn’t want to waste any time participating in a rebuild in Cleveland.
The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year is coming off of his fourth straight season of at least 14.0 sacks and 17 tackles for loss. He set a career-high in the latter category with 22 in 2024 on his way to his sixth Pro Bowl and four first-team All-Pro selection. He would immediately be the best player on most defenses in the NFL and would likely fetch one of the biggest trade hauls in league history.
While the Browns would receive plenty of draft capital to rebuild their roster, the cap implications of trading Garrett make it a difficult move to swallow. If both sides maintain their current position, they’ll continue their stand-off into the summer. Garrett will likely skip offseason workouts and refuse to participate in training camp. From there, he could even hold out into the regular season.
Prolonged hold-outs have rarely worked out in the players’ favor, but Garrett has a few factors working for him. First, if he genuinely doesn’t care about the money, he won’t mind forfeiting his game checks to get the trade he wants. He’s the type of player that can transform a defense overnight, and he would carry a low 2025 cap hit in a trade which would allow almost any team to acquire him.
Even if they get a massive trade offer, the Browns could still play hardball and ensure that Garrett plays for no one but them. However, how the team treats their former No. 1 overall pick will impact their reputation with other players around the league. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin once said that teams want “volunteers, not hostages.” Players feel the same way and could avoid Cleveland in the future if they think the team won’t honor a request to leave.
There’s no easy answer for the Browns, so their impasse with Garrett is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Once the team has more clarity on their roster after free agency and the draft, they may revisit the trade request as a way to kickstart their rebuild.
Bears for #10 for Garrett and a 2 year contract extension at 70 mill with 30 mill guaranteed giving Bears 4 years of control over Garrett which matches Williams rookie contract.
Yeah the talk about a historic trade haul plus a historic contract extension has me wondering what it’d actually take for the Bears to get him and sign him long term. If it’s actually multiple 1st rounders and a 40 mil per year extension, I’d 100% look elsewhere. Same goes for Parsons. See what Hendrickson and Crosby cost in trade and if they’re all coming in that steep, I’d sign Mack for a few years and see if our 1st or 2nd rounder at Edge pans out.
Completely agree with you. And, about bringing Mack back.
That’s a nice start but not even close to getting it done. At least 2 1st rounders if another solid player isn’t coming back to Cleveland. The guarantees will need to be much higher as well. He’s in his prime. He’ll need to be paid accordingly
He’s already under contract. I say screw his trade request and tell him to honor the contract he chose to sign. If he wants to hold out, let him. And fine him.
Multiple first round picks will be 2026 and 2027 or 2028 come draft time
Not many teams are gonna pony up a “haul” for a player openly refusing to sign a new contract with Cleveland. They can just wait it out 2 years and offer him a record contract in free agency if they choose to do so and keep all their picks.
A top 10 pick would go along way to helping Cleveland rebuild. More so than Cleveland getting picks that could fall into the 20s if Garrett helps teams make the playoffs.
The guaranteed money portion is right on par of what he received previously
50 mill out of 125 mill is 40% guaranteed
30 mill out of 70 mill is 42% guaranteed
I offered a 2 year 70 mill extension cause I figure Garrett would want to test the free agency market one last time ala Von Miller.
Garret wants to win a superbowl. Hearing fans of rebuilding teams talk about Garrett is puzzling to me. This situation is hard for all parties cuz there’s probably only 10 teams Garret wants to play for, and they were all in the playoffs last year. If you weren’t in the playoffs last year, Garret doesn’t want to be on your team
To bad!! Garrett signed a contract. Live up to it. He wanted the big money then and now he wants a trade to a contender. Then he shouldn’t have signed his current contract. Simple
You really are a deep thinker.
It’s the NFL; teams ditch contracts constantly! Since Garrett signed, the Cleveland Browns traded their future for a Complete Bum Creeper of a QB.
If this historically pathetic organization won’t trade him, Garrett should play the 6/7 games he needs to fulfill his contract at half-speed.
Who gives a **** about the Cleveland Browns.
Minus the Steelers. Must have a relevant shot at advancing to apply
Hysterical. Generational talent demanding to be released from the confines of this organization. The Haslams are just so awful.
Great player…but lost much respect for him when he tried to race bait after his actions to get out of it. Not saying he deserves to rot away in Cleveland but still it was blatant he was lying. We all do stupid things but trying to ruin someone else along the way is crazy.
Cleveland has turned into that needy girlfriend who just won’t take no for an answer.
Any team that gives up a big haul for him better think they can win the 2026 SB. He’ll be on the wrong side of 30 with an injury history. He’s still very good but not as dominant at wrecking an offense like he used to be. Caveat emptor.
Just trade him ffs
He’s clear that he doesn’t want to be there so you’ve already lost leverage in trade negotiating; and that will only decrease the longer you wait.
Now that he’s rebuked an extension, you e lost even more leverage.
Trade him … just don’t get fleeced as usual
It’s just so sad and pathetic. It’s like when they were paying Holmgren to work til Noon then hit the road.
Garrett for this year’s 2nd, next year’s 1st, a 4th, and Willis and LVN. GPG.
CLE has an opportunity to “fix” some mistakes of the past by trading Myles for much needed picks. Use that 2nd overall pick on a QB and rebuild this team. I know everyone says they need to draft Abdul Carter with that 2nd pick but is replacing Myles Garret with another ‘potential’ Myles Garret going to fix the team?
It is an offense driven league, and they play in one of the toughest divisions in football. Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson are not going anywhere. PIT is a tough, competitive team that always wins more games then they lose. CLE isn’t winning with Watson or Winston, who are they going to sign in free agency to lead the team? They have the 2nd overall pick for a reason, don’t over think it. Grab a young QB to build your team around. Bring in a veteran who can actually play football to either bridge for a year or who can help mentor the rookie (or both). Nothing wrong with letting a veteran play the first 3-4 games of the season to work out the offensive line issues and to show the rookie how the offense is supposed to be ran.
Stop trying to compete when you are not competitive. Rebuild, as in tear of the band-aid and get it over with. The faster you except the rebuild the faster you can get back to playing meaningful games.
Just my thoughts, Thanks for reading.
The Browns brass are too stupid to tear it down. First thing is they should get rid of both the GM and coach. Both most certainly will be fired in the middle of next year. As long as they ride that Watson show they’re cooked.
Garrett would never agree to a trade to the Bears they’re not even close to a playoff spot let alone the Super Bowl.lol